Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes did not hide his frustration after his team suffered a narrow 1-0 defeat to Arsenal at Old Trafford, voicing strong criticism of referee Simon Hooper’s decision not to penalize William Saliba for a controversial moment in the first half.
“When a goalkeeper is impeded and can’t jump within the 6-yard box, that’s clearly a foul. But here, referees tend to overlook such situations,” Fernandes said angrily. “They claimed they would clamp down on players obstructing without looking at the ball, but those were empty promises.”
The incident in question occurred in the 13th minute when Saliba appeared to make contact with United goalkeeper Altay Bayındır, who misjudged a cross and missed the ball. The loose ball then fell perfectly for Riccardo Calafiori to head home from close range — a goal that ultimately decided the match.
Despite dominating possession (61%) and firing 22 shots, Manchester United were unable to break down Arsenal’s defense — the best in the Premier League last season. More alarmingly, United extended an unwanted record: they have now conceded 23 goals from corners since the start of the 2023/24 season, the worst record in the league over that period.
Diverging Reactions from Managers
While Fernandes fumed at the refereeing, Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim — commenting as a pundit — took a more balanced view:
“That wasn’t really a footballing action. I understand everyone wants to score, but when a player collides with and puts pressure on a goalkeeper, it becomes extremely difficult for him to do his job,” Amorim remarked.
“We need to be stronger and adapt to the laws rather than expect them to change. The most important thing is that today, United didn’t play like a defeated team,” the Portuguese coach added.
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta, on the other hand, pointed to a different cause for the goal — a mistake from the United goalkeeper:
“We took advantage of an error from their keeper. That’s how we earned the three points,” Arteta said confidently.
Sources: Netizenbuzz
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